
Jorge Ponce is Director of Product and Vendor Management with FirstClose, Austin, Texas. He has more than 15 years of experience in bank operations, mortgage and risk-based consumer lending and is responsible for driving adoption, client communication and product development. Corey Smith is CPO of FirstClose. His more than 25 years of experience in business spans sales, marketing, finance, strategic planning and risk assessment and management. As CPO, Smith is responsible for overseeing user experience as well as product management.
February 20, 2019

Steve Schulz is National Programs and Product Strategy Leader with Lenders One, St. Louis. He directs the overall solutions strategy and preferred provider relationships, managing a portfolio of more than 45 products and services. He led the launch of four new Lenders One-managed services in 2018, including the L1 M&A Connector. A financial services industry veteran, he held leadership roles in product management, solutions marketing, strategy and communications with Equifax and The First American Corp., prior to joining Lenders One.

The message is clear: digital closings are where the industry is heading. Lenders that want to remain competitive will need to deliver these capabilities. For those that haven't already thought about what type of eClosing technology will best support their consumers and internal processes, now is the time to start.

The following is set of excerpts from the forthcoming book, Innovation Ramifications, Q2 2019, where "Personal dependence on technology, at a time of rising nationalism, populism, and shifting economic finances will usher in unexpected consequences (i.e., ramifications) shattering norms of business, ethics, security, behaviors and individual privacy." The innovation equation has changed.

A decade ago, MBA began collecting information on volume of commercial and multifamily mortgages, held by non-bank lenders, maturing over the coming years. This week's chart, using data from our CREF Database, combines the results of multiple years' surveys and provides a timeline of the changing nature of the market.

In the latest episode of mPower Moments, mPower Founder Marcia M. Davies sits down with Geena Davis, Oscar-winning actor and Founder and Chair of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, who discusses her research on gender inequality in the entertainment industry and how making strides behind the scenes in film can translate to closing the gender gap in real life.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, parent corporation of MISMO, the mortgage industry standards organization, appointed six new members and a new chairperson to the MISMO Board of Directors.

MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, joins MBANow's Rob Van Raaphorst to discuss the MBA National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo, taking place Feb. 25-28 in Orlando.


Mortgage Capital Trading examines the economic and mortgage-backed securities market outlook for the year.

Mortgage Bankers Association Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan breaks down the MBA Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending Feb. 1.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Washington Update features MBA Associate Vice President of Political Affairs Alden Knowlton, who discusses Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo's framework for housing finance reform; the Administration's proposal hinted by acting FHFA Director Joseph Otting; and a final federal agency ruling on flood insurance.

SAN DIEGO--The Mortgage Bankers Association awarded PNC with the 2019 Commercial/Multifamily Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Award.

Dane Smith is President of Verus Mortgage Capital, Washington, D.C., a full-service correspondent investor offering residential non-Qualified Mortgage lending services.

In lenders' secondary operations, leakage can wreak a special kind of havoc that often goes unseen. The individual leaks seem like small change, but taken as a whole on an on-going basis these "nickels and dimes" can add up to a significant amount.

This Mortgage Bankers Association video offers highlights from its 2018 Annual Report, which is available at www.mba.org/AnnualReport.
Sponsored by Speedpay

Mortgage payers still prefer traditional methods despite all the new ways to pay. By increasing digital adoption, mortgage servicers can enhance consumers' billing and payments experience.